Auditing

At what point does an auditor decide that a company is at risk of being unable to continue in business – and need to highlight that risk by issuing a “going concern” emphasis of matter in their report?

Auditing small entities brings many unique challenges. The applicable auditing and assurance standards for small entities are the same as those for much larger audits. There is no substitute for knowledge of those standards in scaling the approach to each different audit situation.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has issued sweeping reforms aimed at increasing the usefulness and transparency of auditors’ reports. These changes have been taken into the Australian standards, effective from 15 December last year. So why the change?

Cochlear – a global leader in the hearing implant market – was among the early adopters of advanced audit reporting in Australia. We speak to Cochlear’s CFO Neville Mitchell about the lessons learnt since adopting the new standards.